A thick-furred Firbolg man kneels with shield and spear in hand as a golden-clad king offers him a golden bangle earning this warrior their station as one of the military elite. A panther-like Tabaxi lays a bundle of cocoa beans at the feet of a mummified Aarakocran priest marking the highest and most holy peak of a mountain where the sun beams warmly. A tan-skinned elven woman wearing vermillion woolen clothes and decorated in golden headdress, necklaces, and bangles, enters a strongly built stone temple to face row upon row of mummified corpses wearing clothes reminiscent of her own as a gentle and cool silence permeates the hall. This is the Kingdom of Vira.
Overview
The Kingdom of Vira is located in the mountains along the left side of the central bay of Wilder. The Kingdom of Vira is known for its seclusion and self-reliance. This is often because the Kingdom of Vira is geographically secluded, being perched atop tall mountains that many western Wilderns consider too treacherous to travel.
Few understand the depth of the Kingdom’s culture and practices. Those that do will find that the Kingdom of Vira is only secluded from the rest of the world because it has no need for the rest of the world: the Kingdom provides food, protection, and avenues for happiness, and Travelers with a willingness to learn and perform in these social rituals will find the Kingdom of Vira to be a welcoming—though likely still precarious—place.
This section will detail the key aspects of The Kingdom of Vira: its main races, government, military, economy, culture, and religions.
Flag
Government: Monarchy Military: Army and special forces. Economy: Socialist (Agricultural focus) Culture: Collectivist Religion: Shamanism/Animism
Races of the Kingdom
Races of the Kingdom primarily include the following:
- Aarakocra of Wilder - Aarakocra are well suited for life in the Kingdom because it’s much easier for them to travel through mountainous terrain. Their feathers also keep them cool in the heat and warm in the upper altitudes as well. They serve as excellent messengers and warriors.
- Tabaxi of Wilder - Tabaxi are common both in the lower and upper regions of the Kingdom, though different types are suited towards different biomes. Leopard and Panther-esque Tabaxi live in the jungle portions of the lower lands, while snow leopards are more common in the mountains.
- Elves of Wilder - Sun Elves make up a small portion of the Kingdom as some of them have migrated into the mountains from the savannahs and badlands of the west. Their long life suits them for the priesthood because of their ability to act as record-keepers and guides to young leaders.
- Other races, like Firbolgs of Wilder and Leonin of Wilder, make their home in the Kingdom of Vira too.
Government
The Kingdom of Vira is ruled by a single Emperor who has divine authority over the people. When the Emperor dies, his body is embalmed, preserved, and resurrected as a mummy. They then enter a “retirement”-type afterlife where they pass on their Emperor duties to their firstborn child.
The Kingdom of Vira functions very differently from other civilizations in Wilder. Primarily, the kingdom doesn’t use money and therefore doesn’t collect monetary taxes. Instead, members of the Kingdom of Vira pay a labor tax where they are designated to farm, build roads and buildings, or craft tools and weapons. These resources are then collectively stored in community storehouses dotting the mountain roads so that everyone can take as they need.
The past kings all reside in their own court of retirement located in the capital city of Urucez. The Temple of Kings is reserved only for the past kings, and only the current king can request an audience with the past kings. In these cases, the past kings can only offer guidance: to do otherwise would revoke their right to the afterlife, and they would be subjugated to permanent death.
Military
The Kingdom of Vira has a large military thanks to the country’s labor tax. They mobilize quickly because instead of outfitting each individual soldier, the army can stock up at any roadway storehouse. The Kingdom’s military thrives on its roadway and messenger system as well. These factors combined with the Kingdom’s mountainous terrain make the Kingdom highly defensible, but they struggle to maneuver troops outside of their borders.
The most elite division of the military is called the Gold-Stone Hand where “Gold-Stone” represents the will of the presiding king (gold) backed by the power of all previous kings (stone). They are known for making excellent use of terrain in the form of offensive measures, whether using the high ground to create ambushes or using narrow passes to funnel troops. For this reason, the Gold-Stone Hand are often proponents for Mareen, Mother Earth. Upon joining this elite division, you are given a golden bangle fit with a stone as a badge of office. These also allow these members free access to keep their own personal spears, javelins, and other weapons of war as it’s their duty to be armed at all times.
Economy
The Kingdom of Vira has a self-sustained economy that relies little on other countries. Their farms provide enough crops to sustain the Kingdom, and the labor tax ensures that all other needs of the Kingdom are accounted for.
The Kingdom’s most common crop is potatoes, but they also grow beans, and some tropical fruits on some of their lower elevated, jungle lands. Perhaps the most common jungle crop, however, is the cocoa bean which is produced in large numbers for daily use. The kingdom also raises Alpacas and Llamas for their wool and they also serve as service animals. These agricultural resources are rarely exported, though Alpaca wool is the most likely to be exported out of Vira.
Since the Kingdom of Vira doesn’t rely on money, common folk will refuse to accept gold as a form of payment because it belongs to the king. The king of the Kingdom of Vira will take gold coins, but they will inevitably be smelted down to make other ornamental pieces. All people of the Kingdom more frequently deal in bartering wares and favors. This even plays out in large-scale transactions. For instance, reparations for winning a war may earn the Kingdom a favor from another country. These favors may be fulfilled through gifts to the king like rare gifts, or other countries paying their own form of labor tax. This also means that when the Kingdom loses a war against another country, they frequently attempt to negotiate in the form of favors, sending citizens of the Kingdom abroad to fulfill a labor tax to another civilization.
Culture
The Kingdom of Vira is highly collectivist in much of what they do give how the civilization operates with a lot of socialist ideals. They are very cloistered from the rest of the world, so they’re often not very accepting of other civilizations’ cultures, though individual visitors to the Kingdom can find the people accepting as long as visitors are open to their beliefs and traditions.
Many might think that forced labor or designated roles would make for a boring life out of necessity and not pleasure, but the people of the Kingdom are content in their lives: their needs are met by the king, and if the king begins to fail, the public is quick to make their voices heard, and the king is essentially forced to obey. Otherwise, the public’s access to military weaponry in the communal storehouses would lead to easy insurrections. Civilians of the Kingdom are mostly content with their way of life and trust the king sufficiently enough to provide for them. Here are some of their major cultural practices:
- The king is blessed by Vira and is both a spiritual figure as well as a governmental one.
- Below the king is their children. Below them are the priests.
- Only the kings upon their death are mummified and brought to the Temple of Kings. Priests are also mummified, but are placed across the mountains in holy places and are not actively undead.
- People who live in the Kingdom are taught to take only what they need plus enough for three more: that way all families are prepared to feed a father, mother, and child should they come to their doorstep.
- There are vast stories of what happens to children when they leave the road: treacherous mountain beasts, or getting lost in the jungle.
- Cocoa beans are very popular foods, but are often saved for special occasions: weddings, birthdays, solstices, eclipses, holidays, etc. However, people will come up with small things worth celebrating if it means bringing out the cocoa.
- Cocoa beans are sacred, but are also considered to be an abundance.
- A common sport in the Kingdom involves knocking a ball into a hoop without using your hands.
- Sometimes it’s played in teams, but can also be played by individuals.
- People often take pilgrimages to visit the holy sites where mummified priests stand watch in the afterlife.
- People in the Kingdom of Vira pride themselves in being in-tune with nature, claiming they know Mareen herself.
- The people of the Kingdom, therefore, are very skeptical of industry of any sort.
Religions
The Kingdom of Vira has two primary religions both of which often overlap in some ways:
- Polytheism, called “Viranism”: Father Sun (Vira), Mother Moon (Kocha), and Mother Earth (Mareen).
- Vira: Represents light, action, and spirit.
- Kocha: Represents darkness, rest, and mind.
- Mareen: Represents nature, cycles, and body.
- Vira loves Kocha, but Kocha is always changing and moving in ways that make her hard for Vira to catch. Solar eclipses are significant events where Kocha reunites with Vira, and their love overshadows Mareen and all she can see is Kocha’s darkness. Lunar eclipses are times where Mareen gets in the way of Vira and Kocha’s love, and Kocha, at her fullest, cries tears of blood.
- Shamanism/Animism
- Coca leaves are spiritual.
- Animal spirits.
- Often combined with the three main gods.